Chad Crews featured this in his library shows for a season or two and that makes me certain it plays well.
A spirit bell with a very clear YES or NO.
I think the premise is very cool.

KyleSWNew user
31 Posts

Posted: Oct 15, 2017 09:43 am

0

I am at breaking point with my dealings with Outlaw Effects. I want so badly to like their stuff and to speak well here, but it is becoming a slapstick affair of comedy proportions with orders mysteriously not turning up, then going missing from the order, then being sent but not sent and on its way but maybe not on its way, then contradictions on where they are altogether. The stuff that did turn up was different to that ordered and when the utterly inadequate instructions left me baffled as to how the item operated, Rick put me in touch with someone who simply told me that if I didn't get this I should quit now. I have several hundred dollars worth of outstanding items which I'm now realising I may well not see in this lifetime and something that doesn't work for which I know there is little point sending back as it'll never be seen again.

So if anyone has any idea how the new helldora box works, I'd be interested in hearing from them as the instructions that come with it are of no use to man nor beast and Rick seems to have no idea either.

cocomaxLoyal user
North Fork, CA
283 Posts

Posted: Oct 17, 2017 02:17 pm

0

What does Rick owe you? I hope it wasn't anything that I build.

Tim Wisseman

KyleSWNew user
31 Posts

Posted: Nov 10, 2017 05:31 am

2

Well, Tim, he's still claiming to stock and be building all of your items. The Outsider he even called me here in the UK to try and get me to pay for, saying he could have it to me in a matter of weeks. This made me suspicious, but he's good with the snake oil sales pitch. He has claimed stuff was sent, but lost the proof of postage, then the items got lost somehow in the post. This then became a did I order that, before swearing it had been resent and subsequently lost again (also without proof of postage). The third attempt to send is pending and claims of it being sent, almost ready to send, on its way, being packaged up today, yesterday, tomorrow and some time next week are so chaotic I can only imagine he expects people to just give up even trying. The Duel I ordered was kept promising and promising it was nearly ready until my inevitable Paypal cover expired (I've since been told this is a well worn tactic of his). I since discovered this was your item and it is highly unlikely I'll be hearing from him again on this.

A small part of me is impressed the sheer and blatant nature of his snake oil salesman behaviour. It feels like being conned by Rick is some kind of bizarrist magic rite of passage and I am now ready to move on up and buy genuine Houdini ouija boards and ectoplasmic trumpets. But being somewhere in the region of $600 down on the deal, I'd have preferred to learn from someone else's mistake. So please, folks, learn from my lesson and save yourself some cash and stress. Feel free to message me if you'd like to see some of the correspondence I had back and forth if you are in any doubt of what a farce this is.

And finally, I have a Victorian ghost in a bottle for sale, $600. It's completely invisible, but every now and then will manifest in spectacular fashion and make tables and chairs move and pictures fall from walls. This will only occur a few months after you have had in in your home (or whatever time period your Paypal payment insurance expires on the sale). Genuine buyers and gullible fools only.

D.DegraveNew user
1 Post

Posted: Nov 29, 2017 04:48 am

0

Hi All,

Actually, this is my first post here. And I do this with mixed feelings as it is not a positive one.
I love well crafted dark artifacts - who does not? That's how I ended up with outlaw effects. My first item was the Spiritus Maximus - a fantastic piece of work. And it took me about a year to get it....

Honestly, the customer experience was poor. After I send the money there was dead silence for 6 month. Finally, I received it. Struggling with myself whether I want to engage into such an endeavor again, I gave, reached out to Rick and order two other artifacts worth 900$ (and yes it was some of the stuff Tim build). After he received my money, again, silence. I wrote him about two dozens emails. After quite a while he replied back with exactly the snake oil salesman behavior described by KyleSW. I was naÃ¯ve enough to believe his promises that things are nearly finalized, it might take a while as it is all hands crafted, he will add some goodies for free. So I withdraw my dispute on paypal. What a mistake I made. After that I reached out and was ignored for another 3 month after Rick replies back. Kind as ever, apologizing, promising, telling stories. (whoever is interested, I can share all mails I got from him).

It is now nearly 2 years down the road from me ordering. Last mail from Rick I received 6 weeks ago. Promising that he find a new builder.

I will keep on mailing him, but honestly, I have learned my lessons. A quite expensive lesson if you ask me.

So Please share and learn! There are other places much more professional (that have the marvelous products Tim is createing)...

Dante

PS: my next post will hopefully be more positive

cocomaxLoyal user
North Fork, CA
283 Posts

Posted: Dec 2, 2017 07:58 pm

0

I am still building things, like ethericas, duels, chillers, dark board, hobbs boxes, RA's, key boxes. I have a wish list board that I track requested items that people would like me to build them. I do not take payment on any of the items until the item is ready to ship out. Just yesterday I shipped out one of my tables the same day that I was paid for it.

When you file a dispute with PayPal and then withdraw the dispute you can not file a dispute on the money again and Rick gets to keep the money no matter what. This is a very common trick Rick pulls on people. The other trick is to drag things out to beyond the dispute window and then stop answering email.

cocomaxLoyal user
North Fork, CA
283 Posts

Posted: Dec 2, 2017 11:17 pm

0

In all my years of shipping orders out for Outlaw, thousands of orders, I can not think of a single time an order went missing in the mail, everything shipped out got delivered. Both myself and Rick use Stamps.com for shipping. He has a record and tracking on everything that he shipped out online. It is impossible for "proof of postage" to get lost. Any time Rick ships anything out he can provide a working tracking number, if he can't I don't believe for a second that anything was shipped.

I can tell you things that went on at Outlaw and are still going on at Outlaw that will really upset you, but this is not the place to go into details.

I am not sure why anyone would still order anything from Rick.

Tim

DouginiInner circle
The Beautiful State Of Maine
6627 Posts

Posted: Dec 3, 2017 08:49 am

0

And that's what's so sad. I got my L*n@ books and Pe@rlyG@tes right when he said I would. Friendly, answered all questions and emails. Never a problem. Wonder what happened...

Doug

AlJonesNew user
Cornwall UK
11 Posts

Posted: Dec 3, 2017 12:51 pm

0

Seems like I'm not the only one feeling let down by Outlaw Effects...

Outlaw by name and now it seems Outlaw by nature...

Dec 2015 placed an order value $1000 +
Jan 2016 followed up on non-delivery - some apology, would 'get on it'
April 2016 asked for a refund
May 2016 non-delivery and was told that items ordered were not now available and an alternative was agreed-upon
Aug 2016 alternative products agreed and apologies accepted. - original unavailable item was still on website !!!
Sep 2016 STILL no delivery
Sep 2016 Reconfirmed that replacement items would be as agreed and that it was being worked upon now
Oct 2016 Again demanded refund - but told item was ready and would be 'tracking soon'
Nov 2016 Told it would be with me by Christmas - weather had been bad
Dec 2016 Told that it had been shipped
Jan 2017 Told that it had been sent to somewhere in Europe?????
Feb 2017 NO response to emails and demands for refund
Mar 2017 Despacth promised .... within the week
April 2017 Told it was ready to go but not clear on what was being sent. Told I did not want a part order in no uncertain terms
May 2017 A Part order was sent and arrived. NOT what was agreed as replacement, but was a not so well made version of what was ordered in Dec 2015
Jun 2017 No response to emails about poor quality, There were NO instructions or guides for use of the $700 item
Jul 2017 Promises to 'make me happy' and deal with the missing items. Had 'new people working on it' ..
Sep 2017 No response to emails, no materials supporting what had been sent.
Oct 2017 Response to email asking me to say what I was actually missing as he had sent what was promised
Nov 2017 Refund for outstanding balance demanded $380 or there-a-bouts. Asked if I would take three instalments, I agreed
Nov 2017 No reply to emails, no money paid ..
Dec 2017 Still no answer to emails ...

Like other messages here, I held Outlaw Magick to be one of those go-to companies for well made and unusual props. In my initial order with Rick in 2015, I made it clear that the items ordered would be used in planned shows for Aug-Oct in 2016. At the beginning, I felt I was being sensitive to any issues that his business was facing re cashflow. Indeed he told me he could refund my money initially because he had already paid the builder and it was HE who had let him down.

The replacement items offered were apparently 'ready to go' and were just waiting for a case to be made....

I like to think I am a reasonable guy - BUT the lack of communication; the trail of broken promises; no real attempt to repair damaged customer relations mean that I will never use this dealer again (sadly) nor will I refrain from offering my experiences to any who tell me they are ordering from them.

We are ALL dealing with a financial downturn and possible cash flow challenges, but when professional courtesy of a reply can't even be offered by a supplier then we have to conclude that we can no longer offer trust, support or understanding. I have refrained from writing anything about this anywhere until now ... but now I want to warn potential purchasers that there is a problem with Outlaw and in particular the attitude and professionalism of the owner.

I am also going to make a report to PayPal, although this is outside of the timescale of their complaints policy, it could be said that Rick's various promises were made to keep me from raising a case against him within their time scale.

John CEternal Order
I THINK therefore I wrote
11186 Posts

Posted: Dec 6, 2017 06:12 am

0

I could have predicted all this years ago. But no one listened. All were apologetic to outlaw, Oh it's custom made or oh, Rick's a creative guy, just wait his stuff if worth it blah blah blah.

Too bad, outlaw had some very interesting artifacts.

The ULTIMATE Routine Series: rebirth soon!

algebraicSpecial user
894 Posts

Posted: Dec 7, 2017 05:58 am

0

Tim Wisseman is the guy you want to deal with. Hocus-Pocus has effects listed on their site that Tim makes. I ordered a Table from Hocus-Pocus made by Tim. I received Tim's beautiful table which functions as advertised. I also received this built to order item in a timely manner.

Tim also answered several questions I had about the table. I trust Tim. I can't say that about Outlaw.

The BaldiniInner circle
I some how pounded in
2343 Posts

Posted: Dec 11, 2017 06:17 am

0

Iâ€™m a bit surprised and disappointed that No one from Outlaw Effects has chimed in here about these negative allegations, makes me very hesitant to purchase as well. On the flipside I did buy several items mini mini years ago with no issues whatsoever. So a bit conflicted to say the least.

cocomaxLoyal user
North Fork, CA
283 Posts

Posted: Dec 11, 2017 10:03 am

0

I don't build anything for Outlaw anymore. . .
I guess I am still, "from Outlaw" after all my name is still on his web site, I am the current "hand model" for the Duel, pictures of many of the things I build are still on the Outlaw web site and you can even order some of them. . . (. . . but you will never get them )

What would would you like to know about Outlaw?

I spent 10 years building for Outlaw, talked to Rick almost every day over those years. I saw Outlaw go from a pretty good outfit into what it turned into.

I can give you names of 21 people that are currently still waiting for things from Outlaw and what they are waiting for, their orders range in value from $450 to over $2000, and these are just the orders that I know about. It is very likely there are many more people that I do not know about.

Many people worked with Outlaw in the past, all of them quit for many reasons. I was the last one working for Rick, I was trying to "save outlaw" and make sure everyone got their products, but it turned out every time one customer was taken care of several more customers customers that never got their order would contact me, the list of people he wronged just got longer and longer. The harder I worked the worse things got.

As far as I know, Rick, Rick's Wife and Dr X (the new guy) are the only ones left at Outlaw.

Tim Wisseman

Pete LegendInner circle
Ireland
1270 Posts

Posted: Dec 12, 2017 10:04 am

0

Why would you order from Outlaw? I ordered directly from Tim - an absolute gentleman. Top notch product that was made and shipped it double quick time. I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Tim and will 100% order from him again in the future.

Guess what, after another round of emails (most ignored) Outlaw promised me that goods to replace those not delivered would ship Tuesday 5th Dec .... and have they?????

Nope...

Really pigged off - I have emailed PayPal suggesting that their payment process is being used by a trader who does not deliver. Not sure what they will be willing to do. Federal Trade Commission ???

Can't see why this guy should be allowed to get away with stealing our money...

Alan :-(

WitchDocChrisInner circle
York, PA
1922 Posts

Posted: Dec 15, 2017 09:20 am

0

He's not "allowed" but it keeps happening, apparently. Someone was putting together information on customer who had received similar treatment. Can anyone remember who that was? I'm terrible with names.

If you really feel the need, you can take legal action against him. In small claims court. In your local town or county. If he is required to appear in court, and lives on the other side of the country. If he does not appear he can be held in contempt and a judgment placed against him. I would hope that it does not come to that and he will step up to the plate and do the right thing.
Alternatively, several people can get together and form a class-action suit against him as well. But again I hope it doesnâ€™t come to this. I have dealt with Rick in the past and he seems to be a good guy, but that was many many years ago.

DouginiInner circle
The Beautiful State Of Maine
6627 Posts

Posted: Dec 17, 2017 06:20 am

0

Quote:

On Dec 15, 2017, WitchDocChris wrote:
He's not "allowed" but it keeps happening, apparently. Someone was putting together information on customer who had received similar treatment. Can anyone remember who that was? I'm terrible with names.